Relocation of Okie Blanchard Sports Complex

Cheyenne East High School, Cheyenne, WyomingNews LetterJuly 2014 The contractor has been in high gear out at the Okie Blanchard Sports Complex Relocation project. With the fall football season fast approaching, there is no time that can be wasted for the project completion to be attained. Throughout the month, the building saw the last few exterior walls erected, steel beams and joists installed, and sheet metal roofing applied on the east and west second floor restroom. Steel application commenced in the center of the building as work picked up on the mechanical mezzanine above the concessions area. The bleacher contractor was able to install all of the metal sheeting and seats on the home and visitor bleachers as well as the press box. Track preparation continued throughout the month, but was hindered with multiple rainstorms saturating the sub grade. The Service Drive concrete traffic circle, various concrete curb and gutters, bleacher slabs, and floor slabs in the building were all completed during the month. Concrete flatwork will be one of the items in the highest gear as the project winds down. Future Project Outlook The building should be completely dried in by the first couple weeks of August and finish work will follow. The track is expected to be paved by the beginning of August and all concrete flatwork throughout the site should continue to stay at a high level of production. The site fencing, field lights, scoreboard, and public address speaker are all expected to begin installation in the next few weeks.

April – June 2014 The site saw some much needed progress throughout the months of May and June with the storm sewer construction on Pershing Boulevard finishing up by the end of the last week of May, curb and gutter construction throughout the entrance drives, and asphalt pavement on T-Bidr Dr, Stadium Dr, and the parking lot. The roundabout curbing took form by the end of June with most of the splitter islands complete as well as the curbing on the inner circle of the roundabout. The cast in place concrete work was finished up and stair risers were poured. Sod was placed on the practice field in the beginning of June and will continue to receive ample attention for the immediate future. The basement of the building was closed up in the beginning of May and second floor masonry wall construction commenced thereafter. Plumbers, electricians, and masons worked together on the second floor erection with the majority of the interior and exterior walls complete on the second floor by the end of June. Future Project Outlook Since the second floor masonry walls are almost completely erected, steel roof joists, steel beams, and decking should begin placement in the coming weeks. The front radius wall that closes up the north basement walls should be poured in the beginning of July with the footer already poured and forms beginning placement by the end of June. The track sub grade is expected to receive attention in the coming weeks as well as the outer curb around the track. Once the track outer curb is poured the track should come together relatively quickly.

February – March 2014 February began with more snow storms hitting the region and hindering work for a short while, but with warmer temperatures later in the month, work picked up around the site. Masonry construction picked up substantially in the southeast quadrant of the concessions building, concurrent with plumbing and electrical work. The vast majority of the southeast retaining wall was poured leaving only a small section left to be constructed. The last bit of the retaining wall on the north side of the home grandstands was completed late in the month. Backfill began behind the cast in place bleachers to allow for the upper footer construction. The two 48” culverts that cross the roundabout began installation late in the month and are expected to be completed in the beginning of March. Once the two culverts are constructed the north detention pond will be tied to the south detention pond.

Future Project Outlook With spring on the horizon, work activity should continue to pick up around the site. The last bit of retaining wall work should be wrapping up along with footer construction on the north side of the concessions building. The masons will continue to work in the basement of the building while the plumbers and electricians work to keep up as the basement walls are erected. Steel joists and decking should begin installation once the supporting walls are built in the basement. The contractor is expected to begin grading the parking lot and concrete flatwork will commence in the coming weeks on the bleacher slabs. August 2013-January 2014 Throughout the past several months, the Okie Blanchard Sports Complex Relocation project has been faced with several road blocks that have slowed production substantially. The combination of record rainfalls in September and October paired with the typical winter weather the region faces annually, has made it difficult for the contractor to keep work moving for an extended period of time. Even though work has been hindered, it continues to move forward when weather allows. The turf infield was installed and used for East High football practice in early September, concurrent with continued site wet utility construction, site grading, and concessions building basement foundation and wall construction. The irrigation system and topsoil on the practice field were installed, but sod application was held off until the spring time. The following months saw the home cast in place bleacher walls poured as well as one of the two large retaining walls that extends off the west side of the concessions building. The majority of the underground utility work inside of the concessions building (i.e. plumbing and electrical conduits) has been completed along with interior wall footers and basement slab. The masons were on site constructing the storage building up on the practice field and will move inside the concessions building to begin masonry work in the coming weeks. The majority of the site wet and dry utilities have been completed with the exception to the Pershing Blvd storm sewer, which will commence in the spring time when temperatures reach allowable levels for asphalt construction. Future Project Outlook The project is currently about 40% complete as of the end of January 2014, the contractor hopes this number will increase substantially in the coming weeks. Anticipated work for February includes; masonry wall construction inside the concessions building in concurrence with plumbing and electrical wiring, interior footer and concrete wall pours, various site retaining wall construction, home and visitor bleacher concrete pad pours, miscellaneous remaining site utility work, and concrete sidewalk and stair installation on the west side of the project.

July 2013 This month work will continue with the priority being the installation of the new infield turf. To get to this point an infield under drain system has been installed , and 2150 tons of drain rock have been placed in the infield. The drain rock is topped out with 2” of finer sand and rock material all intended to emulate native sod conditions and allowing enhanced turf surface drainage. Residents and project onlookers will observe the turf being installed later this month. The concessions building foot print on the south end of the new field has been excavated with building foundation and basement walls starting construction. Other improvements to watch for this month will include the roughing in of the new site detention ponds along the eastern edge of the project, the new access road named “T-Bird Drive” into the site off Pershing Boulevard, and grading the roundabout at Cheyenne street. Work on the upsizing of the Pershing Storm sewer pipe is schedule to be completed by early September as well. Through the month of July 2013, Aztec Construction continued dirt work on the site. They finished grading on the practice field and playing field areas and began grading on the future parking lot. Crews were also on site in July pouring the curb of the track, shot put and discus pads, runways for long jump and pole vault, long jump pits, and pole vault pads. Towards the end of the month Aztec finished excavating the foundation of the future concessions building. Academy Sports turf began installing the pipe for the field drainage. In the coming weeks site utilities will start to be installed and the synthetic turf is scheduled to be in place by the end of August.

AVI personnel working on this project have provided excellent service and good responsiveness. Very much team players and valuable as resources.

Marcia Murdock, AML Project Manager

AVI completed a very good report, detailing multiple surfacing options and developed cost estimates for each option — good job!

Kevin Stogsdill, PE-WYDOT Interstate 80 RECON

I was very impressed by the timely efforts including straightening out the problem R/W survey that had stalled the project for years.

Dan Lyons, PE-WYDOT Veteran Road

AVI is one of our best consultants. They have proven they can handle multiple projects at one time. WYDOT would be hard pressed to give AVI a project they could not handle.

Cliff Spoonemore, PE-WYDOT Snowy Range Road

I was impressed with your knowledge of the reporting requirements and processes, as well as how well you prepared for the pre-bid meeting and pre-construction meeting.